Recent Work by ITEP

ITIN Filer Data Gap: How Changing Laws, Lack of Data Disaggregation Limit Inclusive Tax Policy

June 17, 2021 • By Emma Sifre

Like U.S. citizens, noncitizens who live, work, or invest in the United States must file local, state and federal taxes. But in order to file personal income taxes, they must first be issued a processing number called an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) by the IRS. These numbers are issued to both legal permanent residents and nonresidents who are not eligible for Social Security numbers. ITINs do not imply immigration status, nor can they be used for immigration enforcement purposes, but they can be used to create burdensome barriers that make it difficult for ITIN holders to file taxes and…

State Rundown 6/16: Progressive Tax Policy Keeps Racking Up Wins

June 16, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Taxing rich households and large corporations to fund vital investments in education and other shared priorities has long been a winner in the eyes of the American public, and more recently has also enjoyed a string of victories in state legislatures and at the ballot box. That win streak continued this week as Arizona’s voter-approved tax surcharge on the rich and Seattle, Washington’s payroll tax on high-profit, high-salary businesses both survived court challenges, and Massachusetts leaders approved a millionaires tax to go before voters next year.

Child Tax Credit Is a Critical Component of Biden Administration’s Recovery Package

June 11, 2021 • By Aidan Davis

Nearly one in seven children in the United States live in poverty and about 6 percent of all children live in deep poverty. President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan would tackle child poverty in an immediate, meaningful way. It is expected to extend the one-year Child Tax Credit (CTC) enhancements included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) through 2025. Next year alone, this would provide around a $110 billion collective income boost to roughly 88 percent of children in the United States.

U.S. Should Pursue Biden’s Tax Legislation and International Tax Agreement on Separate Tracks

June 9, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

The agreement announced over the weekend from the finance leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) countries to allow governments to tax some corporate profits based on the location of sales and to implement a 15 percent global minimum tax is a major step forward—but in no way changes the need for Congress to enact President Joe Biden’s tax reforms right now.

State Rundown 6/7: Remaining State Legislative Sessions Are Heating up as Budget Deadlines Loom

June 7, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Just as an early summer heatwave brought soaring temperatures this past weekend through much of the lower 48 states, several state legislative sessions are heating up as legislators scramble to make tough budget decisions. Massachusetts lawmakers are voting on a fiery new "millionaires' tax" that would support transportation and education revenue needs, and Connecticut will likely restore its state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) back to 30 percent. Illinois’s decision to cut back corporate tax breaks also provided a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, we'd give other state tax proposals a more lukewarm reception: New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio…

State Rundown 5/27: State Legislatures Step Back, Advocates Push Forward

May 27, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

As more and more state legislatures wrap up their sessions and we reflect on the whirlwind that is this past year, it’s easy to focus on the steps back that states like Oklahoma have taken and Nebraska, North Carolina, and Arizona are trying to take. We have had some significant wins in states over the course of the year, but not every development will be a good one. However, we know advocates are on the ground, working tirelessly to help states maintain equity and progressivity in their tax codes. And for that, we have many of you—our intrepid readers of…

How Biden’s Plan Would Crack Down on Wealthy Tax Evaders

May 25, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

The Treasury Department released a report explaining what the administration’s tax enforcement plan would do—and how it fits into the president’s overall plan to collect more revenue from profitable corporations and individuals making more than $400,000 a year.

Income Tax Increases in the President’s American Families Plan

May 25, 2021 • By ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

President Biden’s American Families Plan includes revenue-raising proposals that would affect only very high-income taxpayers.[1] The two most prominent of these proposals would restore the top personal income tax rate to 39.6 percent and eliminate tax breaks related to capital gains for millionaires. As this report explains, these proposals would affect less than 1 percent of taxpayers and would be confined almost exclusively to the richest 1 percent of Americans. The plan includes other tax increases that would also target the very well-off and would make our tax system fairer. It would raise additional revenue by more effectively enforcing tax…

State Rundown 5/20: You Learn Something New Every Tax Day

May 20, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

“Tax Day” was earlier this week but the debates, research, and advocacy that determine our taxes and how they are used take place every day of the year...

IRS Clock Runs Out, Saving 14 Large Companies $1.3 Billion

May 18, 2021 • By ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

Each year, corporations publicly state that some of the tax breaks they claim are unlikely to withstand scrutiny from tax authorities. And each year, corporations report that they will keep some of the dubious tax breaks they declared in previous years simply because the statute of limitations ran out before tax authorities made any conclusions. This suggests that, perhaps because of cuts to its enforcement budget, the IRS is not even investigating corporations that publicly announce they have claimed tax breaks that tax authorities would likely find illegal.